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2008 A Year in Review

Canadians, and for that matter, most people on this globe, will want to kick the rear view mirror off of 2008 so they don’t have to look back. It was a year of trying economic times for many businesses and individuals, which saw reduced revenues and spending as consumer confidence fell to an alltime low since the early 80’s.

The good news; it’s behind us, and though we have an uphill battle in 2009, we will be meeting the New Year much wiser and prepared than we began 2008. After all, the consumer market is a self-fulfilling prophecy; if we stop spending, we amplify the recession, if we keep spending, we reduce the effects, and the economy will recover sooner.

The real estate market is no different than the stock market; it is driven by supply and demand, and overall consumer confidence. The market reality is that it goes up and it goes down, not unlike housing prices, which are currently down, and may continue to fall 2-4% in 2009, as some economist predict, although they will rebound. Housing starts are down to correct for the explosive development in 2006 and 2007. The market will self-correct and rally back; when it does there will be a correction in the supply-demand equation, and housing prices will be on the rise once again.

What does this mean for you? Depending on your situation there are a number of ways to act.

If you are already in your new home, and haven’t sold your old house, you need to price your home competitively with the market, and maybe even discount it to get it sold faster. When you sell with ComFree, there is an average commission savings of $15,000 which can be used to help you price your home lower than those listed with real estate agents. If a buyer were to see two comparable houses on the same street and one is on ComFree and the other with a realtor, but the one on ComFree is $15,000 less, the buyer will buy the one for less money every time! This means ComFree will help you sell faster so you can stop making those monthly mortgage payments on a house you no longer live in. (Not to mention the maintenance of snow removal, cost of heat, electricity, etc)

If you are a builder, developer, or an investor sitting on multiple properties and need to sell them, the same rules apply. Use the $15,000 Commission-Free Advantage to price below the competition. You will sell faster and in turn get your money out quicker.

If you are thinking of selling and moving to a new home in the same market/city but you are trying to “time the market”, this does not apply to you. You are buying and selling in the same market, so whether you act at the peak of the market, at the bottom, or anywhere in between, it is irrelevant because the home you want to buy is relatively at the same price in the market as the one you need to sell. Again, when you are buying, look at www.comfree.com as these sellers have reflected a lower asking price because of the commission savings. You can enjoy the savings that they are passing on to you by paying less for the home, and when you sell, you have the advantage of doing the same for your buyers, which makes you more attractive in, what remains, a buyers market.

IComFree finished the year off with an inventory of 1381 homes for sale, while in December 89 new clients joined the sellers list, and 44 homes sold in the month in an overall average of 65 days. Those sellers observing the FREE licensed appraisal continued to sell quicker at an average of only 42 days. For those who think people don’t buy in the winter, the sellers in December would disagree, and as we head toward spring, you will see sales numbers drastically increase. Many sellers from 2008 that decided to pull their listing for the winter and come back on in spring will be accompanied with thousand of others who are thinking the same thing. If your goal is to sell in 2009, it is important that you put your home on the market as soon as possible to beat the spring flood of homes hitting the market.

For more information on how ComFree can help you sell faster than selling with a real estate agent, please call our office 7 days a week at 780-444-3131 and speak to one of our professionals, or make an appointment to attend an upcoming information session held every 2 weeks.